As Eric Mangini expects his veteran to return, he praises the work of backup Seneca Wallace.
Jake Delhomme and Robert Royal enjoyed the cheers from the stands as the Browns won on Sunday. Out with an injured ankle, Delhomme will get a chance to return to the starting lineup this week, said Eric Mangini.BEREA, Ohio -- All signs are pointing to Jake Delhomme returning to the starting lineup Sunday against the Falcons after recovering from his high ankle sprain.
"He should practice on Wednesday, coach Eric Mangini said Monday. "I thought we had a really good chance [against the Bengals]. I want to see with a bigger load how he responds. That's where we are on Monday. Hopefully we'll be saying the same thing on Thursday."
Mangini said Delhomme's return shouldn't diminish what Seneca Wallace did over the last three weeks. Wallace went 1-2, but in addition to beating the Bengals, engineered two touchdown drives against the stingy Ravens defense and earned a 103 rating.
Against the Bengals, he launched a 24-strike to tight end Evan Moore and used his legs to avoid the rush and keep drives alive.
"He's gotten more and more comfortable running the offense," said Mangini. "And I don't want anybody to think that by putting Jake in this is some knock on Seneca. I think Seneca has done a great job. And he's played well and he's played well against really tough defenses and I have no problem with him starting [and] playing."
Overall, Wallace completed 52 of 85 attempts for 554 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a 82.2 rating.
"With the way he's played, we've decreased the amount of turnovers the last couple of games," said Mangini. "He's done a really outstanding job in a pretty tough situation coming in after Game One and having a three-game run."
Wallace said he's not concerned about relinquishing his starting role.
"That's not my job," he said after the Bengals game. "I just continue to lead these guys the best way I can. The coaching staff and everybody else will take care of that."
Surgery completed: Doctors said D'Qwell Jackson underwent successful surgery in New York Monday to repair a partially torn pectoral muscle. He said last week he's determined to come back from his second pectoral surgery in less than a year.
Feeling positive: Mangini enjoyed finally seeing the fruits of the team's labor against the Bengals. "I like this group of guys a lot," he said. "It's a positive group. It's a determined group. It's how I envisioned a team to be."
He said the victory was important "because they deserved to win. I really believe that. Over the first three weeks there was no sense of 'woe is me.' It was just 'all right, let's get back in here, let's get this fixed, let's keep moving forward.'"
He said he sensed the guys were getting angry in the fourth quarter while protecting the lead again.
"It was 'we are not letting this happen again,'" he said. "There was an absolute sense across the sidelines of 'no, no, it's done, no.' You can look in people's eyes and know what the mindset is. I looked across at a bunch of guys that were determined."
A hard man to stop: Linebacker Matt Roth had a sensational game, six tackles, three quarterback hits and two sacks, including the one that got the Bengals off the field for good to preserve the victory.
"He's just a relentless, tough guy," said Mangini, "The one thing you know about Matt is, he may mess up a play, but someone's getting hit. ... So his mistakes, they're going to get fixed, they need to get fixed and he fixed them in terms of jumping offside. But even when he does [make] them, he does them at such a tempo that you appreciate that."
Said tight end Ben Watson: "That's the main reason I'm glad training camp is over, 'cause I don't have to deal with Matt Roth and everybody else on every other team does. ... When he wants to get going and he wants to bust through there and make a play, there's very few people that can stand in his way."
Pointing in the right direction: Scott Fujita, who delivered a sack, forced fumble and blocked field goal, elaborated on his comment that all the victory does is guarantee that the Browns won't go 0-16.
"I guess one thing I forgot to mention is that it also guaranteed that we'd also feel a lot better in the morning," he said. "But really, it's about taking things in stride.
"It feels great to get the first win. We put in a lot of time to get that win, but again, you can't blow it out of proportion. We should've won the first three games. That's the bottom line. Now we have to find a way to build on this and get things moving in the right direction."
Fujita attributed the Browns' four sacks and seven QB hits to four-man rush package installed by defensive line coach Bryan Cox. "It goes back to the plan, guys executing it and I think Carson [Palmer] held the ball a little bit longer than he normally does, and that gave some guys some time to get there."
On his sack and forced fumble: "That was actually kind of a weird play, because I thought he had released the ball. I was on kind of a stunt and when I wrapped around, I saw him pump and I thought the ball was out. That's why I didn't completely unload on him. As I was approaching him, I saw it was still right there in his hand, so I just barely bumped him and the thing came out.
"I actually came off on the sideline and asked a couple guys, 'what the hell just happened?'"
A lesson learned: Watson felt bad about drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call after Moore's TD reception for leaping into the stands.
"I'm really upset about it, honestly," he said. "I wasn't trying to get a penalty or anything. I was really just trying to jump on [Moore]. I was just really excited for him. It was his first NFL touchdown, and it was an awesome play. I guess my excitement got the best of me unfortunately. It really wasn't my intention to do anything against the rules."
It was a second consecutive week with a major penalty for Watson, who had a roughing call last week.
"It better be the last if I want to keep my career going," he said.